Web Design Course Description

HTML

A web page design course teaches HTML, the primary computer language needed to build a website. It stands for HyperText Markup Language and is a series of codes used in electronic documents. The codes are called tags, or markups, and their purpose is to identify elements so that they can be read by browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. There are a multitude of elements to be coded and they include different types of text (such as bold or italicized), headings, paragraphs, dimensions, word breaks, links, graphics, sounds, colors, tables, columns and special characters. Other languages a web design course may introduce are CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript, which work with HTML to allow for the development of more dynamic web pages while providing additional functions and control.

A course in web design will cover layout and design, including structuring the page with proper alignment, consistency and site navigation. This may involve working with an HTML editor, which is a software application specially designed to build a web page. Depending on which software is used, capabilities include editing text and objects, spell checking, code cleanup, link validation and even accessing various browsers to preview and test websites while they are still a work-in-progress.

Web design studies will also look at the visual appeal of color and suggest concepts for choosing color schemes that best represent the purpose of the website. It will explore primary and secondary colors, complementary colors, closely related analogous colors and those that are tertiary, meaning they are created by mixing one primary color with one secondary color.

The web page design course will instruct students about copyright, which is the U.S. law that protects the work of authors, composers, artists and others from being used without their permission and knowledge. Violating this law can result in fines and even lawsuits, so it is important that anyone designing a web page know what content is considered public domain, which means it is not copyrighted material and can be used without permission (though it is considered professional courtesy to give credit to the source). Some companies and institutions allow photographs to be used for educational purposes but not for marketing or advertising, and it is often necessary that written permission be obtained from the content's owner. There are many rules a web designer needs to be aware of. For example, only 10 percent or up to 1,000 words of an author's written text can be used on the website, and only 10 percent or no more than 30 seconds of musical lyrics can be used.

Many talented web designers are self-taught and acquired their skills through software tutorials or online courses. Classes in web design are also taught at many colleges, high schools and trade and technical schools. The course will most likely apply a step-by-step, hands-on approach that will result in the creation of an actual web page.